Massachusetts Research: Four Centuries of History and Genealogy
This online course will provide a century-by-century look at the resources and research strategies essential to exploring your Massachusetts roots. We will also look at the historical context, settlement patterns, and migrations in and out of the state. Join us for live broadcasts May 5, 12, 19, and 26.
Puerto Rican Roots, Philadelphia Native – a Latina Playwright Recalls Her Youth
In My Broken Language, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Quiara Alegría Hudes tells the story of her coming of age and into her life as reader and writer, with her sprawling Puerto Rican family as a collective muse. Journalist Maria Hinojosa will moderate. Join us Thursday, April 29 at 6 p.m. ET.
Last Chance! Spring Your Research Forward with $20 off New Membership
Find out how American Ancestors can help you take the next steps in your family history research! Get $20 off your new membership using the code April0421.
Volume 174, containing all four 2020 issues, was recently added to the Register searchable database. This volume adds 440 pages and over 11,000 searchable names. Published quarterly since 1847, the New England Historical and Genealogical Register is the flagship journal of American genealogy and the oldest journal in the field.
The city of Marinette, which is the seat of Marinette County, is located in northeastern Wisconsin. The city has made three municipal cemetery burials databases available on its website. The alphabetical burial listings are in downloadable PDF files. There are 48 burial records in the Calvary Cemetery database and 2,263 in the Woodlawn Cemetery database. The largest cemetery is Forest Home, which has listings for more than 23,000 individuals. The data fields in the databases are name of the interred, grave location (Space ID), burial date, age of the deceased, lot owner’s name, and remarks. Information found in the remarks field varies.
Bicycling to Lunch and Dinner “In the 1890s old wayside inns and roadhouses removed the horse troughs and replaced them with bicycle stands. A new day was dawning!”
Last week's survey asked how many of your ancestors immigrated by themselves. We received 2,801 responses. The results are:
45%, Yes, at least one of my ancestors who was under 21 immigrated without any family members.
53%, Yes, at least one of my ancestors who was 21 or older immigrated without any family members.
9%, No, none of my ancestors immigrated alone.
20%, I don’t know.
This week's question asks about your ancestors or relatives who moved because of a health condition. Take the survey now
Want to share your thoughts on the survey with us? We are always happy to hear from our readers. Email us at weeklygenealogist@nehgs.org. Responses may be edited for clarity and length and featured in a future newsletter.
Readers Respond: Ancestors Who Immigrated Alone
By Jean Powers, Senior Editor
Last week's survey asked about your ancestors who immigrated by themselves. Thank you to everyone who replied. Below is a selection of reader responses.
Deb Del Nero, Newport, Rhode Island: My paternal grandmother, Assunta Messori Del Nero, travelled alone to the U.S. from Naples, Italy, in 1900. She was 16 years old. She was met by relatives in New York City. The ship’s manifest recorded her name and port of departure correctly but listed her as a male. My guess is that my great-grandmother told Assunta to dress as a boy to protect her during the long trip in steerage.
Sally Noran, Toxaway, North Carolina: My maternal grandfather, Peter Sarasin, emigrated from Switzerland alone when he was 21. I have no records of him from that time until he showed up in northern Minnesota 16 years later. He was not naturalized until his first daughter—my mother—was born. Peter became a business owner by age 42; he ran a saloon until Prohibition, then turned it into a general store.
William R. Frost, Ipswich, Massachusetts: My grandmother, Charlotte Kendall Mooney Enos, was a descendent of Hercules Mooney, born in 1710 in Kings County, Ireland. According to my grandmother, Hercules—then working as a tutor—decided to seek his fortune in the "New World,” so he stowed away on a ship headed to Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He was discovered by the crew, who dropped him off at the Isles of Shoals, 12 miles off the Portsmouth coast. Hercules persuaded some fishermen to take him ashore. He was commissioned a captain in the New Hampshire Provincial Regiment during the French and Indian War, and defended Fort William Henry. During the Revolutionary War, he covered the retreat from Fort Ticonderoga, and in 1779 was appointed colonel for his service in Rhode Island. He was appointed Justice of the Peace for Strafford County and served as selectman for the town of Holderness. He married twice: Elizabeth Evans in 1738, and Mary Jones in 1751, and fathered five children with each wife. He died in 1800 and is buried on the banks of the Squam River in Ashland, New Hampshire.
Andrea Hajducko, Emmaus, Pennsylvania: My ancestor, Lazarus Silcox, arrived in New York from Liverpool in 1855. He settled in Lowell, Massachusetts, and then sent for his eldest daughter Sarah—my ancestor. Several months later, Sarah—just 13 years old—made the same journey as her father. She arrived in New York, where she was met by Lazarus, in March 1856.
Free Webinar: Shalom/Salem
Archival Stories from Salem’s Jewish Community
Learn about Salem’s Jewish history via the archival collections at the Wyner Family Jewish Heritage Center. Associate Director of Archives and Education Stephanie Call will showcase photographs and ephemera that highlight the contributions of the city’s Jewish community on Monday, May 3, at 3 p.m. ET.
